Category: Giveaway

One of my favorite things (okay, of about ten million favorite things) at BlogFest this year was that we had a beverage sponsor. And not just any beverage sponsor… a totally kickass, my-favorite-kind-of-beverage sponsor.

You see, if I had it my way, I’d drink only sparkling water. I love the stuff. During my pregnancy, it was my go to for mocktails and hydration – all the hydration – and the same still holds true now that I’m breastfeeding.

I just love how mineral water makes drinking water feel festive and fun, instead of a chore. Because yes, I am terrible at hydration; getting enough water is something I have to think about every day.

So when Gerolsteiner Mineral Water invited me to join their #SparklingDetox challenge, I was all about it. In fact, I’m so excited that, instead of waiting for the official start date of September 12, I might, ahem, be programing now. #DelayedGratificationIsHard

What is the #SparklingDetox challenge, you ask? It’s simple, really: for 5 days the only liquid I’ll be consuming is Gerolsteiner. This is my kind of detox: the restrictions are FUN, not, er, restricting.

And, I get to claim all sorts of health benefits, in addition to the joys of indulging in my favorite beverage. Every liter of Gerolsteiner contains 348 mg of calcium and 108 mg of magnesium. That’s 1/3 of the daily requirement for calcium and 1/4 for magnesium!

Want to join me?

Gerolsteiner Mineral Water #SparklingDetox

September 12-16

Drink only Gerolsteiner for the five days of the detox: no other beverages.* That’s it!

* Not to worry, smoothies are a food, not a drink. 😉

Simple, right? I’m excited to see how I feel after a week of healthy party time in my cup.

Come join us in the dedicated Facebook group to get advice, support, and recipes & workouts you can do during the challenge.

Gerolsteiner Mineral Water is available nationwide (here’s a store locator), and… just between us, there might just be a HUGE giveaway coming up in which 300 people will win a case of Gerolsteiner. Stay tuned for more on how to enter that… 🙂

In the meantime, go say hi to Gerolsteiner around the internets, and join our Facebook group!

When I first got pregnant, we suddenly had all this stuff to worry about. Unpasteurized cheese. Chemicals in our cleaning products. Sushi. Deli meat. How to make sure we were getting the nutrition we needed, especially during these early days when all I can eat are bland carbs.

Nathan, luckily, jumped right into the vitamin investigation fray to figure out what the best prenatal vitamins are. So many options out there, and so much information. I felt totally overwhelmed by all the (often contradictory) instructions about what I should or should not be taking. I tried a few different kinds, including some gummies that were just gross, some pills that made me want to retch, and a few others. Then SmartyPants reached out with an offer to try their gummy vitamins.. and at first, I had a little freakout. How did they know?! I wasn’t Facebook official yet. Only my parents and Jamie knew the news.

Luckily, my secret hadn’t really leaked; their PR team just had really good timing. Or some well-honed intuition. In either case, I got to try their vitamins (which fortunately arrived just hours before I left town for 12 days) —seriously, another case of impressive timing!—so I packed up that big old bottle and hit the road.

Short verdict: they are DELICIOUS. So delicious, that my husband keeps stealing them. I’ve been trying to remind him they’re for ME and for Alien, and he shouldn’t be depriving us of our vitamins. Not least because I’m still subsisting on mostly bland carbs. But I can’t really blame him. They’re like candy, with just the right balance of sweet and sour, and a convincing, candy-like texture. Even on my most nauseous days, I’ve been able to take them without any additional queasiness.

I know, I know. I’m growing a human; the candy qualities shouldn’t be the most important ones for picking a vitamin. I had Nathan evaluate the nutritional content, since he’s been doing all the vitamin research. I fully expected he would take them away from me, because he (a) has impossibly high standards and (b) wanted to eat them all himself.

To my surprise, he and my sister-in-law (a midwife with similarly high standards) both gave SmartyPants a strong endorsement. The only consideration was that in combination with my other vitamins, I might overdo it on the Vitamin D. That’s an easy fix: we’re adjusting my other vitamins so I can keep taking the SmartyPants and not go into Vitamin D overdose. (Is that even possible? I don’t think so).

He’s now taking the SmartyPants Men’s Complete Vitamins so that he stops raiding my supply. And I’m more than happy to fulfill my daily dose of 6 gummies. I usually take them after lunch when I want something sweet – these hit the spot!

Disclaimer: I received complimentary product to try. All opinions are my own! I so appreciate you supporting the brands who help me grow the healthiest kiddo possible.